Necessity's Mother
Chapter 13 in Guns, Germs, and Steel
Lesson Plan
Monday: View the VoiceThreads created about the spread of written language. Discuss our new understandings. Outline the study of technology development (it'll be in the context of "Necessity's Mother", chapter 13 in Guns, Germs, and Steel).
Tuesday: Introduce Diamond's flipped concept that "invention is the mother of necessity" and debunk the heroic inventor myth. What inventions does Diamond present as finding use after they were created? (The gasoline engine is a great example.) Compile a list of inventions, the originally intended purpose and, if known, inventor and date. Here's an example of silly string finding a use on the battlefield in Iraq:
Wednesday-Friday: Follow the "invention is the mother of necessity" principle by choosing a modern device (the newer the better) and suggesting a new use. Create a VoiceThread to present your new use. Work on teams:
Organization (team worked from notes they previously created on the wiki, work proceeded in an orderly fashion, team members could describe where they were in the process)
10%
Coverage (VoiceThread covers topic completely)
5%
Visuals (pictures help tell the story rather than act as obligatory bric-a-brac)
20%
Story (audio and text tell the story of your topic convincingly)
Chapter 13 in Guns, Germs, and Steel
Lesson Plan
Rubric